A new recruitment scheme that offers visiting Danish nurses and doctors a 15 percent salary bonus and free housing in Greenland takes effect September 1. Permanently employed Greenlandic nurses say the terms are unfair.
The so-called stafet scheme is an agreement between Greenlandic and Danish authorities meant to ease a severe staff shortage. DR reports that permanent Greenlandic staff are now criticizing it. Panninguaq Boassen, a nurse in Nuuk with eight years in the job, called the arrangement unfair.
Under the scheme, health staff employed in Denmark can work in Greenland for limited periods. They are paid according to the Greenlandic collective agreement, plus a 15 percent bonus and free housing. Afterwards they return to their Danish jobs.
Until now, Greenland has largely covered shortages through private temp agencies. According to DR, the new arrangement replaces part of that model with a state-to-state agreement.
Navarrana Johnsen, chair of the nurses’ union PK, acknowledges the urgent need for staff but is concerned. She said the scheme can create a sense of unfairness between permanent employees and stafet nurses. The plan has sparked debate in Greenland, and a protest petition has been launched on social media.
The exact gap in pay and conditions remains unclear. Greenland’s health service was unable to give DR concrete calculations in kroner. PK expects stafet nurses to end up with better terms than permanent colleagues.
Agency costs behind the change
Anna Wangenheim, Greenland’s Naalakkersuisoq for health, said permanent staff receive retention bonuses and supplements that visiting workers do not get. Asked by DR, she said she could not guarantee that visiting staff would never earn more than permanent employees doing the same work.
She still prefers the scheme to expensive agency contracts, where visiting nurses are paid even more. Agency spending in Greenland’s health service rose from 22 million kroner in 2020 to 72 million kroner in 2025. The health service told DR that an agency nurse costs on average 1.45 million kroner a year including pension.
Wangenheim also noted that the bonus and housing costs are paid by Danske Regioner, not Greenland’s own treasury. The bonus terms for Danish staff were negotiated by labor market parties in Denmark.
Torben M. Andersen, professor of economics and chair of Greenland’s Economic Council, wants more clarity on the wages. Per Andersen, raw pay data cannot stand alone, and the reasons behind such differences need analysis.
At Dronning Ingrids Hospital in Nuuk, some departments have very few permanent staff, with the rest made up of visiting temps. Panninguaq Poulsen, a newly qualified Arctic nurse, said local staff understand the culture and non-verbal communication. Boassen said newly qualified nurses need better conditions, including service housing with very high rents.
Wangenheim told DR she is willing to review staff conditions, and that current talks on an expanded health agreement already include higher retention supplements. She said staffing is also a security matter, pointing to American approaches toward Greenland over the past six months.
In February 2026, US President Donald Trump said he would send a hospital ship to Greenland to care for sick people there. According to DR, no such ship has been seen.
